Working with VisitLondon.com, the official visitor guide for the capital, ShakeSpeak has been developed by software company, SwiftKey, best known for its language prediction app. By analysing the Complete Works of Shakespeare, they have developed an app that helps turn your text messages into Shakespearean prose by predicting the playwright’s best known phrases.
Swiftkey’s app is for Android users only and is available to download free of charge, allowing you to simply type the first word or two of a famous Shakespearean quote and the technology will do the rest. For example:
To be or not to be, that is the question
That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet
All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players
The course of true love never did run smooth
And in order to make you your text messages as authentic as the Bard’s language, Swiftkey’s analysis of Shakespeare's works recommends using ‘Thou’, ‘Thee’ and ‘Thy’ in your text messages, as these three words are among the most frequent Shakespeare uses compared to how we speak today.
Or simply start your sentence with ‘Ha!’ or an ‘O!’ or a ‘What ho!, accompanied by plenty of exclamation marks, for a much more authentic Shakespearean feel.
And make sure you are unfailingly polite by using ‘Sir’, ‘Madam’ and even ‘Ay my good lord', which are peppered throughout Shakespeare’s plays.
FANS OF LONDON
The launch of the ShakeSpeak app is part of the Fans of London tourism campaign from VisitLondon.com, which is supported by the GREAT Britain Campaign, British Airways and Hilton. Fans of London celebrates the blockbuster events taking place across the capital this year, including the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s legacy, and the first ever exhibition on the Rolling Stones, EXHIBITIONISM.
April 2016